Unwise Method

Unwise Method A basic principle of success in life is that, in controversial matters, one should willingly accept whatever is available to one at the very outset. If we fail to do so in the initial stage in a bid to get more than what we are being offered, we only prolong the conflict. Then the conflict is bound to become more complicated. Consequently, we will lose even whatever was available to us in the first instance. Let me cite an example to clarify this point. In 1917, the British drew up a plan, known as the Balfour Declaration, to partition Palestine. This division was clearly in favour of the Arabs. By the terms of this scheme, less than half of the land was to be given to the Jews and more than half to the Arabs, inclusive of the entire city of Jerusalem. However, the Muslim leaders of that time refused to accept this plan. If they had adopted a pragmatic and realistic approach and accepted whatever was being offered to them at the time, they could have then devoted all their energies and resources to constructive purposes. The condition of the Palestinians could, in consequence, have been much better than that of the Jews. However, owing to the unrealistic approach of the Muslim leaders, the Palestinians lost their all and had to face death and destruction. Exactly the same has happened in the case of Jammu and Kashmir because of the utter ineptitude of the leaders of Kashmir and Pakistan. On this score, the record of the injudiciousness of Muslim leaders is a very long one. I will allude to just one aspect of this here. In 1947, when India was